Former UFC featherweight champion and current interim titleholder Jose Aldo’s decision to leave the UFC – and probably MMA altogether – is not a bluff, his head coach said.
Nova Uniao leader Andre Pederneiras, who’s been with Aldo since the first steps in his MMA career, told SporTV’s “Planeta” show today he’s on his way to Portland, Oregon, where he hopes to sit down with the matchmakers and UFC president Dana White to determine the terms of Aldo’s contract termination.
“In my mind, from the conversations we had, he no longer wants to fight for the UFC,” Pederneiras said. “I’m traveling today. Hopefully, I’ll have a meeting with the matchmakers. I believe Dana will be at this event, so we can sit down and figure out the best way to terminate the contract.”
Aldo’s (26-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) decision came after the announcement of the lightweight title bout between current 145-pound champion Conor McGregor (20-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) and the lightweight titleholder Eddie Alvarez (28-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) as UFC 205’s headliner.
In interviews with Brazilian outlets on Tuesday, Aldo clarified that it wasn’t the matchup itself that bothered him – but the fact that, in a move that he was not allowed to do when he was the undisputed champion, McGregor would get a chance to hold two UFC titles simultaneously while the featherweight division was at a standstill.
While some may think that Aldo’s statement could be a power play with the promotion, or even a spur-of-the-moment call, Pederneiras says that it’s not the case. And that, judging by the conversations he carried with the fighter on Tuesday, the decision seems final.
“Yesterday we talked and he said he doesn’t want anything, not even millions of dollar proposals,” Pederneiras said. “In his head, he wants out.
“We’d talked about (this decision), because he’d already said, ‘If they screw me over this time, I’ll stop fighting for the UFC.’ And we believed it wouldn’t happen – also because of Dana’s statements. We thought, ‘If he’s going to fight in the upper division, we’ll keep the belt and fight either (Max) Holloway or (Anthony) Pettis. If he takes the rematch against us, I’ll fight him directly, all good, problem solved.”
Pederneiras doubled down on Aldo’s remarks that White lost credibility after saying that McGregor would have to relinquish the featherweight title if he wanted to compete for the lightweight crown. Now, Pederneiras says, they have a tough time believing White’s claims that McGregor will have to pick a belt should he beat Alvarez in New York City.
“From the moment (White) lets the guy fight in the upper division, and halts the belt in the lower one – something he’d been saying for everyone to hear that wouldn’t happen – he loses all credibility,” Pederneiras said. “Now anything he says – ‘After this fight, he’ll have to choose.’ Before this fight he wouldn’t keep both belts, now after this one, he’ll have to pick?
“We don’t believe anything anymore, and Aldo’s decision was ‘I’m not fighting anymore. I no longer have the motivation to fight for the UFC. And to go in there without motivation – I don’t want to lose because of that. So I’d rather get out.’”
On Tuesday, Aldo talked about not only leaving the promotion but also quitting MMA altogether to pursue his interest in other sports. Pederneiras confirmed those plans – which already seem very concrete.
“The future is a secret,” Pederneiras said. “He wants to compete in other sports, but I can’t say now. So we’re just waiting to be freed from the contract. But it wouldn’t be at MMA.”
Pederneiras also specified the terms of Aldo’s current contract, which has six fights left. The Nova Uniao leader reiterated that all the interim featherweight champion wants at this point is an amicable split from the organization. If that’s not possible, he says, there is already a lawyer involved in the case.
“We have an eight-fight contract – he’s done two, there are six to go,” Pederneiras said. “And what we want is an amicable rescission. Aldo is no longer interested in fighting in the UFC, so what he’s requesting is an amicable rescission, without the need for legal action.
“If that’s necessary, the lawyer who’s representing Aldo already has the contract in her hands and is already looking at it.”
Pederneiras believes that having an unhappy employee would not be a good deal for the organization, considering that a vocally dissatisfied athlete might end up convincing more people to join his cause. And, feeling unjustly treated by the promotion, Aldo is most certainly dissatisfied.
“I see (the UFC) as a private company – OK, but we can’t do things only to benefit the company,” Pederneiras said. “At some point, we need to think about the athletes. About all of them, not only one – which is what’s been happening. What we see now is that the person calling the shots is Conor. He said he wouldn’t give back the belt, he didn’t. He said he would get two belts, he has a chance to do that.
“It’s a complicated situation. You’re no longer a UFC employee – in Aldo’s case, he’s Conor’s employee, because he’s in his division and he has the belt. So the only person who can say ‘I’ll fight you’ is Conor himself. We’ve seen that neither Dana nor anyone in the UFC has the right to say, ‘You’re doing this’ and have the guy do it. Everything he said he wouldn’t do, he didn’t, that’s when he proved he’s the one in charge.”
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